Carl was hard at work in his lab, trying to work out the kinks in another weapon. He was rather wishing he had not worked so late last night but things had been flowing and he had been reluctant to cut it short. He has precious little time to work, especially since Van Helsing had begun to pry. He sighed and allowed himself a glance at the papers' hiding place. It was almost done and then he could relax for a little while.

Picking up the weapon, he began tinkering with the inner workings. He quickly became absorbed in his work and didn't notice the passing of time until he heard on of the other monks calling good night to his fellow workers. Sighing he put down what he was working on and stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his back. He looked over at the hiding place, wondering if he dared do some work. He shook his head, not until he knew where Van Helsing was. He couldn't afford to have the man sneaking up on him while he was working. The Hunter had become far too determined lately and Carl couldn't let him find out what he was up to.

Deciding that he'd need to wait until later, he wandered off to the kitchen to get something to eat. As usual, he had missed the communal dinner but the cook had become so use to Carl's strange work habits that he always set aside a plate of food for him. Humming slightly to himself, he made his way to the kitchen. Once he had eaten, he was going to head back to the lab and work. He was quite sure that with a couple more hours, he could finish up.

Because Carl was distracted by his thoughts, he didn't see the figure sitting at the kitchen table. It was only the sound of someone coughing that brought him back to the present.

Van Helsing looked up at the sound of someone approaching. At the sight of the man he had skipped dinner to avoid, he swallowed hastily, causing himself to choke on a morsel of food. Coughing he bent over the table, trying to catch his breath so he could make a quick excuse and flee the room.

Carl pushed aside his annoyance at seeing the current bane of his existence and moved to pound Van Helsing on the back. Once he saw that the Hunter was breathing again, he stepped back and said "Well, I hadn't expected to see you here." He moved towards the counter where he knew there would be a plate of food ready for him. He hoped that if he didn't make eye contact, he could avoid the usual questioning that always seemed to happen when he encountered Van Helsing. He debated just taking the plate back to the lab with him but decided against it since Van Helsing could just as easily corner him there as here. Sighing he turned back towards the table.

Meanwhile Van Helsing was trying to come up with some plausible reason to leave. Unfortunately he had a half full plate of food in front of him so the obvious excuse was unavailable. Nor could he claim pressing business regarding a mission, as there were currently no reports requiring attention. He couldn't even say he needed to train as it was late at night and such an excuse would come across as unbelievable. Desperately he looked around the room, hoping for some kind of inspiration. He almost panicked when he saw Carl turning around. Oh God! What if Carl tried to talk to him?

When Carl turned around, he was surprised to see that not only was the Hunter not about to say anything but he seemed to be looking anywhere but at Carl. Frowning in puzzlement, he stared at the dark haired man. What the hell was going on? Van Helsing had been stalking him at every available opportunity and now when Carl had absolutely nothing to use as an excuse to ignore him, suddenly Van Helsing was leaving him be. It made no sense at all. Curiosity piqued, Carl moved to the kitchen table and sat down.

Van Helsing almost flinched when Carl sat down. Why was he doing this? Shouldn't he be running back to the lab? But thinking of the lab made Van Helsing think of what Carl had hidden there and he found himself flushing. God, he couldn't think of that now, not with Carl sitting right there. Trying to think of anything else, he stared down at his plate of food. Realizing that eating would be a good cover, he quickly shoveled a mouthful of food and began chewing. He was sweating visibly and praying for some kind of intervention. A lightening strike at this point would even be welcome.

Carl studied Van Helsing carefully. The man was flushed and he was sweating as if next to a roaring fire. Yet the kitchen was actually rather cool now that the stoves were no longer in use and Van Helsing was never one to respond to temperature anyway. One of his more annoying traits. So what was going on with the man? Was he ill? Concern pushed aside the last remnants of irritation and Carl leaned towards Van Helsing. Trying to get a closer look at Van Helsing's eyes he said, "Are you feeling alright? You seem rather flushed and you are sweating." Thinking to see if the man was running a fever, Carl reached out his hand and placed it on the Hunter's forehead.

Van Helsing leapt out of his chair as if he had been scalded, his violent reaction causing his chair to crash to the floor. He backed away from Carl, his eyes wide and panicked.

Carl jumped himself though he managed to avoid tipping his chair over. His heart was racing from Van Helsing's unexpected reaction. "What in the blazes is wrong with you? You act like I just tried to stab you!"

Van Helsing tried to gather his rattled thoughts and said, "I'm sorry. You startled me that all. Really I'm fine. Just fine. Perfectly fine in fact." He knew he was babbling but he just couldn't seem to stop himself. The feel of Carl's hand on his skin was enough to bring back all the images that had been haunting him all day. He had to get out of there. He frantically eyed the door, trying to figure out if he could make it past Carl.

Carl was looking at Van Helsing with alarm. What was going on with the man? He was acting completely rattled and Van Helsing NEVER got rattled. His ability to stay calm when faced with the most hideous of monsters was what made him such an effective Hunter. What could have possibly overset him?

Moving slowly and keeping his expression non-threatening, Carl tried to approach Van Helsing. He felt a bit like he was dealing with some wild animal. He could see that Van Helsing was ready to bolt and it was unnerving him a bit. Why was Van Helsing reacting this way? Ever since he had walked into the room… Carl froze in midstep. Van Helsing was acting this way because of him. But why? Up until yesterday, it was all he could do to get the man to leave him alone. Now, all of a sudden, he was desperate to flee the room. What had changed?

Van Helsing could see Carl drawing closer and while part of him could see that Carl was treating him like he was some kind of lunatic, he was too disturbed by Carl's presence to get annoyed. All he could think about was to get out of there before Carl could reach him.

Deciding that escape was of far more importance then dignity, he moved quickly, dodging around Carl and making for the door. Over his shoulder he called "Its late, I should leave you now". Making it through the safety of the door, he continued to speed down the hall until he made the safety of his room. Bolting the door behind him, he leaned against it, his breath coming in shaking pants. Tomorrow he was heading out. He just couldn't do this right now.

Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Carl stared at the empty doorway in shock. Van Helsing had just run away from him. The man who had faced down demons and werewolves had fled from him, a harmless friar. What the hell was going on?

Suddenly Carl went very cold. Van Helsing hadn't tried to pry information out of him. For the first time in months the Hunter hadn't tried to get Carl to talk. With a pit in his stomach, Carl went racing down the hall to his lab. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about what was causing Van Helsing's strange behavior...

To Be Continued...